


Vigil

by Matril



Category: The Autobiography of Jane Eyre
Genre: And it's the aftermath of a car crash, Comfort, Family, Gen, I think this is the fluffiest thing I've written for this show, Missing Moments, Oh AOJE you are so angsty and I love you for it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-18
Updated: 2014-06-18
Packaged: 2018-02-05 05:05:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1806343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Matril/pseuds/Matril
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Grace Poole shows up, the Rivers siblings wait to find out what's going on. Some more patiently than others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vigil

Simon had stormed off to his room after they left Jane and Miss Poole, which was probably for the best. It might give him a chance to cool off a little, and if Diana was honest, she needed to cool off a little herself. She had been dangerously close to throttling him.

She entered her own room, settled at her desk and took a few deep breaths. However, before they could have their intended calming effect, Mary burst in, snack bowl still in hand, and plopped herself onto Diana’s bed.

“So." She leaned forward eagerly as Diana swiveled her chair around to face her. “What do you think?”

“About what?” Diana said, knowing full well what Mary meant.

Mary made an exasperated gesture toward the door. “What she’s doing here! You know who she is, right? You’ve seen the videos. That’s Mr. Crazy Sock’s right-hand woman!”

“I know who Grace Poole is,” Diana said. “But it’s none of our business. And you know that.” She gave Mary a narrow look. “You weren’t really planning on sitting there and eavesdropping through the whole conversation, were you?”

“Nah, I would have snuck away eventually, I guess,” Mary said with a shrug. “But don’t tell me you aren’t dying of curiosity. Coming to see Jane in person like this – it’s pretty dramatic, right? She couldn’t just text her or something? Do you think something’s up with Rochester?”

Diana bit her lip. She was, in fact, just as curious as Mary, but she wasn’t about to admit it. Her sister didn’t need any encouragement right now. “Whatever her reasons, however dramatic they may be – it’s still _none of our business_.” She punctuated the final statement by poking Mary in the stomach. “Jane doesn’t need us to speculate and gossip. She needs our support.”

“Okay. Fair enough. So what if she decides to go back to him?” Mary tossed another handful of food into her mouth and talked around it. “Mmou mmin mmo mmould –”

“Swallow and start over, Mary.”

She obeyed, and after an exaggerated swallow went on. “You think you could still support her if she wants to go back?”

“Well.” Diana frowned. “I mean, that’s a complicated question. We don’t know the full situation.”

“See, if you’d just let me keep eavesdropping –”

“Mary!” Diana had the sneaking suspicion she was only half joking. “Anyway, I don’t think we need to worry. Jane is very self-aware. She left him before, didn’t she? When she knew the situation had become unhealthy? We need to trust her and let her make her own choices.”

Mary sighed. “I know. Jane’s smart – a lot smarter than me, in a lot of ways. But love can make people stupid.”

“Okay.” Diana spread out her hands. “Let’s consider the worst case scenario. What if Jane decides to go back to him, and we can tell even from an outsider’s perspective that Rochester still has all his old problems and shows no sign of changing? I don’t think that’s the case, by the way,” she added, “but just for the sake of argument. Do we behave like Simon and throw a fit?”

Mary let out a sharp laugh. “Yeah, that went over great. Leave it to Simon to handle things in the worst possible way.”

“Hanging around to eavesdrop is a close second, Mary.” She was rewarded with her sister pulling a hideous face on her, and they both started laughing. Diana realized only then how tense she was still feeling. “Listen. Mary.” She reached out to squeeze her sister’s hand. “I want to know what’s happening out there just as much as you do. I’m worried about Jane. I want her to be happy; I want her to do what’s best for her. But I can’t decide that for her. She’s the only one who can do it.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Mary slumped back, defeated. “Why do you have to be so wise and patient? You make the rest of us look bad.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. You’ve been just as much a confidante for Jane, if not more. And Simon…” She chuckled ruefully. “Simon doesn’t need my help to look bad. He does that just fine all on his own.”

Mary was about to say something else when they were interrupted by the sound of a door shutting, followed by the revving of a car engine and the squealing of tires. They both got up, looking at each other as if hoping the other had the answer. Diana hadn’t really made up her mind whether she’d be all right with Jane going back to see Rochester, but she certainly never expected her to dash out the door without saying goodbye. Or had Grace left by herself, in an angry huff?

As if of one mind, the sisters scrambled for the door at once. But Simon was faster than either of them. By the time they got there, he had already opened the front door and was glaring outside. “I knew it! Just a few minutes alone with that woman, and she convinces Jane to come with her. Without a single word for any of us.”

Diana was shaken, but she forced her voice to keep steady. “Is she really gone?”

Simon shut the door with a resounding slam. “Yes.”

“Okay,” Mary said, moving to the couch and back again with nervous energy. “So either Grace Poole decided to tie up Jane and kidnap her, or she’s some kind of sorcerer who erased her memories. Because the Jane I know would never leave without saying good-bye –”

At that moment, the sound of a phone ringing made them all jump. Diana took another deep breath and said, “See? I’m sure that’s Jane. No kidnapping or sorcery involved.” She headed for her bedroom calmly but purposefully, well aware that Simon and Mary would follow and listen to every word of her side of the conversation.

For all her apparent confidence, Diana was intensely relieved to see Jane’s name as the caller. She answered the call with a warm, “Hello? Is everything all right?”

“I’m sorry,” came Jane’s flustered voice. “There was an emergency, there wasn’t any time to – oh, we’re almost there. Diana?”

“Yes?” Diana said, swallowing her impatient questions.

“It’s – it’s Adele’s father. There was a car accident, and we needed to – Adele is scared and confused and she needs someone to be there. I’m sorry, we just got to the house and I have to – I’ll call you again when I know more, okay?” There was a series of muffled noises, the slam of a car door, and Jane talking breathlessly to someone else.

“Of course.” Diana doubted Jane had any attention left to spare, but she had to add, “If there’s any way we can help, just let us know.”

“Thank you so much.” And the call ended with a sob and the words, “Oh, Adele!”

Slowly, Diana put her phone back on the desk and turned to an expectant Mary and Simon. “Jane was very distracted,” she began, “so I’m not sure if I understand exactly what’s going on. I think – Mr. Rochester was in a car crash?”

Mary drew breath sharply. Simon’s gaze darkened, and he folded his arms and leaned back against the doorframe. Diana swallowed and went on. “It sounds like Jane has gone to help with his daughter. It seemed pretty urgent. She said she would call when she knew more.”

“Holy crap,” Mary whispered. Diana could only attribute it to Jane’s influence that she hadn’t used a stronger term.

“Jane deserves better than this,” Simon said with sudden vehemence. Diana turned to him, eyebrows raised.

Mary smacked him in the arm. “What are you talking about? You can’t blame him for crashing his car.”

He scowled. “Of course I can. He’s a reckless driver, on top of everything else. And now Jane’s getting pulled back into all his problems.”

“But she chose to go,” Diana said. “That’s important. She wants to be there for Adele. And we have to let her.”

She expected more of an argument from Simon, but his anger seemed to have deflated into gloom. “You’re right. She’s made her choice. I should have known it would end this way.”

“Oh, come on,” Mary said, pulling the arm she had just smacked into an affectionate half-hug. “It’s not an ending. Life goes on. Jane’s not going to just vanish out of our lives. If nothing else, all her stuff is still here. She has to come back for it eventually.”

That got a small smile out of Simon. Diana seized this rare window of cheer to say, “Since, I assume, none of us will be able to sleep until we get an update from Jane, why don’t I make us some tea? It seems the appropriate beverage for the situation.” This was greeted with enthusiasm from Mary and a non-committal shrug from Simon, translated into two yeses. They all headed for the kitchen.

Simon wasn’t really a tea-drinker, so he only downed a few sips over the course of an hour before setting his cup down and slumping over the table, the picture of misery. Diana and Mary surveyed him with sympathetic looks as his breathing stretched into the slow, even rhythm of sleep.

“Do you think he actually has a thing for Jane?” Mary asked quietly. Diana narrowly avoided spilling the contents of her mug before setting it down in a hurry.

“You mean a romantic thing?” she murmured. “I don’t know. I really thought it was more like brother and sister, for a while there. Now I’m not so sure.”

“Of course there was the whole proposal thing.” Mary actually snorted, though it thankfully wasn’t quite loud enough to wake Simon. “But that was the most unromantic mess I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“He definitely wanted her to go with him to India.” Diana shook her head. “It could have been romantic….or it could have been loneliness.”

Mary tapped the rim of her mug thoughtfully. “The way he’s been acting tonight does kind of seem like jealousy. You know, like Rochester is his rival or something.”

“Maybe. But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. Whatever the exact nature of his feelings, he does genuinely care about Jane, just as much as we do. He worries about her just like we do. Maybe he doesn’t handle it in the best way possible….”

Mary rolled her eyes. “That’s a understatement if I ever heard one.”

“He’s trying. We all are.”

Another hour passed, and Mary was starting to droop as well. Diana, more experienced at pulling all-nighters, was still fairly alert when her phone finally rang again.

Jane’s voice on the other end was tired but far calmer than before. “Oh, Diana, I woke you up, didn’t I? I’m sorry.”

“No, I was up and waiting for your call,” Diana assured her. Mary blinked rapidly and straightened.

“You were waiting? I’m so sorry! You didn’t have to do that.” It was easy to imagine the exact expression on Jane’s face, earnest and concerned.

“It’s fine,” Diana replied. “I wouldn’t have been able to sleep anyway. How are you? How is – everyone?” 

Mary leaned her head right next to the phone and stage-whispered, “I’m eavesdropping, Jane, so speak up!”

A little laugh from Jane. “It’s all right. Adele’s asleep now. We’re in a hotel across the street from the hospital. Her father is in the ICU…but he’s fairly stable. The doctors are optimistic.” Jane’s tone was guarded, but Diana didn’t think she was keeping back any facts, just the full extent of her emotions.

“I’m really glad to hear that,” Diana said. “Okay, we can talk more when we’re all wide-awake. You should definitely get some sleep now.”

“I think I will. Oh,” Jane went on hurriedly, “I’m sorry to ask more of you, but would you be able to bring me a change of clothes? Grace is pretty much living at the hospital right now and I want to stay with Adele –”

“Of course,” Diana said with a smile. “We’ll bring you a whole suitcase full of clothes, and anything else you need.”

“Thank you so much. For – everything.”

“Anytime.”

“G’night, Jane!” Mary called, finally startling Simon awake. He stared blearily at his sisters as Diana put her phone down.

“Jane?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

Diana nodded. “She’ll be all right. We can talk more in the morning.” And even though there was no way to know for certain, she found that she really believed it. Jane would be fine.


End file.
